During my visit to BioWare’s office in Edmonton, Canada earlier this year, Game guide cover story for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I’ve heard a sentiment repeated all day by the game’s main characters: BioWare has stumbled upon great companions in previous Dragon Age games, but with Veilguard, this is the first game where the studio feels like it’s intentionally and purposefully crafted great companions. As such, companions are central to everything that happens in Veilguard.
With so much emphasis placed on these characters, I spoke with several of the game’s designers to learn more about BioWare’s philosophy on companions in Veilguard.
“No, it is,” BioWare CEO Gary McKay tells me when I ask if he agrees with the notion of “stumbling upon greatness.” “I would start with Dragon Age—every game in the series has been different, so we didn’t set out to make a game that was a sequel or the same game as the last one. We really wanted to do something different and we pushed the boundaries in a few areas, one of which was the companions. Once we got into it headfirst, we really realized that we had something special with those companions, again, around motivations, around story arcs, and they really started to become the centerpiece of the game.”
Philosophy of Dragon Age: Companions of the Veilguard
Busche says these companions participate in the darker, more sanguine parts of the game. “We really got to a place where you can have the highest highs and it can be colorful, it can be optimistic, but you can also have the lowest lows, where it gets rough, it gets painful, it gets quite dark. But through it all, there’s a sense of optimism. And it creates a delightful undercurrent throughout the game.”
When I ask artistic director John Epler about BioWare’s philosophy regarding the Veilguard companions, he reveals a phrase the studio uses: Dragon Age is about characters, not causes.
Epler says that one of BioWare’s principles in creating Veilguard was that the world exists even when you—Rook—are not around. There are things, age-old conflicts, grudges, and so on, that are happening even when Rook is not involved, he says.
“Some of them you go ‘in media res,’ so that’s where we wanted to go with the companions,” he says. “They have their own stories. Where can Rook come into those stories, and in what interesting ways can those stories develop not only based on themselves but based on Rook’s presence in them?”
Short Detour: Neve Gallus
Comrades, in and out of combat
Rook’s companions in Veilguard have roles both in and out of combat, but since I’ve only seen a few hours of the game (which will surely be dozens of hours), I wanted to ask Busche about those roles and how they play out. Here’s what I learned:
In fight
Shrub: “So the companions as realized characters, we have to take that premise when we talk about how they show up in combat. They’re their own people. They have their own behaviors; they have their own autonomy on the battlefield; they choose their own goals. As the story progresses, they learn how to better use their abilities, and you really feel like you’re fighting alongside these realized characters in battle. So I love that, I love the believability of that. You feel like we’re all in this together.”
“But then when it comes time for strategy, and I might add progression, that’s where the sense of teamwork comes in as the leader of this team as Rook. When I open up the skill wheel, it almost feels like we’re all huddling together. We come up with a game plan together. I see all the skills that Harding has, and I see all the things that Bellara is capable of, and sometimes I’m synergizing weaknesses. Maybe I’m slowing down time with Bellara so I can unleash devastating attacks with Harding, knocking down an enemy, and then me as Rook, rushing in and using this build that they’ve created for me. It’s a game about creating that organic sense of teamwork.
“There are also more pronounced synergies now. We have very intentional combos where your teammates can play together, you can queue skills between them, and each of those skills will trigger and have their effect. But it results in this massive detonation where you get amplified effects, you weaken the entire battlefield, all because of planning and teamwork. What makes it really cool is that you can bring Rook into the equation as well. One of my favorite things is upgrading some of Harding’s skills so that she automatically uses some of those skills that I would normally have to command her to do. And it will actually set my character up to do that combo, which, again, has that detonation effect.”
The fight outside
bushes: “That’s one of my favorite themes. I talked about the idea that these are fully fleshed out characters, that they’re very authentic and easy to understand. So outside of combat, that means they’ll have their own fears, their own anxieties, their own distractions, even their own sanctuaries, their own personal spaces. In our base of operations this time, our player hub, the Lighthouse, each of the companions has their own room. And what I love about that is that it becomes a reflection of who they are. The more time you spend with them, as the game progresses, as you go through their arc, their room and their personalities will evolve and blossom and become more complete because they’ll trust you more and you’ll understand them more.”
“So I would say that when you go on adventures with them, when you go back to the Lighthouse and get to know them — all of those decisions and conversations and things you learn about them — it makes them close to you in a way that I honestly have never experienced before. And sometimes it fills me with joy and sometimes it breaks my heart.”
To learn more about the game, including exclusive details, interviews, videos, and more, click the Dragon Age: The Veilguard button below.
